MUNSON DISCUSSES EDUCATION, HEALTHCARE AND TRIBAL RELATIONS AT STILWELL STOP
Democratic gubernatorial nominee addresses hospital funding, water quality and workforce concerns during Adair County campaign event
STILWELL, Okla. — Democratic gubernatorial candidate Cyndi Munson spoke to residents at the Stilwell Community Building Friday, addressing education funding, hospital closures, water quality and relations with tribal nations.
Munson, the Oklahoma House minority leader from Oklahoma City, is the Democratic nominee for governor and will face the winner of an Aug. 25 Republican runoff between Attorney General Gentner Drummond and former state Sen. Mike Mazzei in the November general election.
On healthcare, an attendee raised concerns about Stilwell Memorial Hospital. Munson responded by citing Stillwater Medical Center as a comparable example of the financial pressure facing rural Oklahoma hospitals, saying the facility faces projected losses tied to federal Medicaid funding cuts and provides obstetric, primary and specialty care to surrounding communities. She said a second facility, an Integris hospital near Northwest Expressway in Oklahoma City, has already reduced childcare services this year for the same reason.
On education, Munson said she supports repealing the state’s private school tax credit program and redirecting the funding toward public school budgets and teacher pay after an attendee said state Rep. David Hardin voted in favor of legislation tying a teacher pay increase to expansion of the voucher program. She said a legislative interim study on the use of standardized testing, including the ACT, as a measure of student performance was approved this year, led by state Rep. Dick Lowe.
On Medicaid, Munson said she opposed a Republican-backed effort this year to move Medicaid expansion out of the Oklahoma Constitution and into state statute, which would give the Legislature greater latitude to change eligibility requirements. The measure did not advance. Munson said she would continue to oppose similar efforts as governor.
On water quality, Munson said loose state environmental regulations have drawn data center and industrial development to Oklahoma, citing a proposed aluminum smelter project and long-standing concerns about the poultry industry’s effect on state waterways.
On relations with tribal nations, Munson said she is scheduled to visit the Choctaw Nation on Aug. 7 to observe its court system and discuss law enforcement cooperation between tribal and local agencies. She said she has a working relationship with Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. and served one term in the Legislature alongside his father, former state Sen. Chuck Hoskin Sr.
Munson also addressed a separate matter raised by an attendee identifying himself as a representative of Green Country Workforce Development, who said a U.S. Department of Labor decision earlier this year nearly resulted in the dissolution of the regional workforce board that administers federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act funding locally. Munson said she was not previously aware of the matter. She stated she'd investigate it further.